Monday, July 28, 2008

I'm back from the San Diego Comic Con. While there I scored a copy of the book Comix: A History of Comic Books in America by Les Daniels. It came out in 1971 and featured a lot of then-current underground comics. I had it when I was a kid and lost it long ago. One of my favorite things in the book was the Mr. Natural comic by Robert Crumb that I have scanned and put up today. Click on it and it will open up bigger.

This is one of the first of Crumb's Mr. Natural strips. Here he is clearly called "Mr. Natural the Zen Master." Later on his designation as a Zen Master was dropped. But it's pretty clear that Crumb was referencing Zen teachers with Mr. Natural. Since he lived in San Francisco at the time he started doing the strips, I've often suspected he may have attended some of Shunryu Suzuki's talks or perhaps even had some relationship with Suzuki, Katagiri, Kobun Chino or others from San Francisco Zen Center. I don't know for certain.

Crumb usually gets it right, though, with the dialog he puts in Mr. Natural's mouth. My first teacher, Tim McCarthy was a big fan and I almost consider Mr. Natural himself as an early Zen teacher. He's often far better than supposedly legitimate books written about the subject. In this little strip he sets a very good example.

I had fun at the con. Didn't do a whole lot of what you might call "business," though I did get one deal sorta happening. We'll see if that materializes. Of course, I'm talking about my film biz work, not Zen. I was surprised to see, though, that Deepak Chopra attended the con plugging some sort of "spirituality in the comics" thing. Ha! Maybe I can get him interested in the often talked about but never acted upon graphic novel adaptation of Hardcore Zen.

I saw lots of Jedi knights there. Those robes are so close to Zen robes it's funny. I shoulda worn mine. I'd've fit right in with all the other geeks. Of course, in most senses that matter Zen people are precisely like comic book/sci-fi geeks. They do exactly the same things. And when they get together they act exactly the same way — always trying to out-geek the other geeks.

The thing with sci-fi geeks is that at home they're usually the only guy who's an expert in, like, Klingon syntax or whatever. Then when they get together with a bunch of geeks, suddenly their uniqueness is threatened. The response is to try and recover that uniqueness by out-geeking the other geeks. Totally the same thing happens in Zen places. It's hilarious! At some Zen factories (Eiheiji, Sojiji and all the rest included) it's even institutionalized with stuff like color coded rakusus (bib thingies that Zen geeks wear) to show you at a glance who's higher on the scale of Zen geekdom.

One day when the Jedi knights get their stuff more together maybe they'll have retreat centers and all the rest too. The San Diego Convention Center will become a place of holy pilgrimage. Hey, stranger things have happened. Look at Scientology.

225 comments:

Jedi and zen priests are so similar is that zen priests were the inspiration for the Jedi. There are loads of examples to support this but the most obvious one was in the last movie: Yoda and Anakin Skywalker actually have a formal dokusan session.

Check out the book "The Dharma of Star Wars" for an in depth exploration of this.

any insights that R. Crumb had were due more to his LSD use than to any zen practice.

From a Time Mag Interview -

HUGHES: Did you at any time share that view that was so prevalent at Haight Ashbury and other "great centers of world learning" that dropping 250 mics was going to somehow or other induct you into a better world, which if everybody else dropped along with you would then turn out to be kind of utopia?

CRUMB: Yes I did believe that, I'm embarrassed to say. I remember preaching that to people.

HUGHES: It was a kind of self-congratulation in a way.

CRUMB: Well, no because all the hippies that took LSD felt that, in the beginning with some actual validity, that they had perceived a lot of things that were wrong with the direction that industrial civilizations was going. And this was all suddenly revealed very clearly. It got fogged over a bit with all the other crazy stuff that was going on but in the beginning when you took LSD you saw that there was something all wrong with this whole set-up here. "We've got to get back to the land. We gotta get back to nature. We gotta get rid of all this polluting chemical nonsense. We've got to stop this. It's unhealthy for the planet." It all became viscerally clear. It all became suddenly life threatening. All these cars coming at you.

HUGHES: Well it was life threatening..

CRUMB: But in a normal state you just kind of adapt to it. But [on LSD] it all just seemed totally insane.

But as for comics revealing truth, I concur. Sometimes the truth is too painful to bear in direct communication - which is why the pop media is so utterly useless and devoid of any authentic information.

Young Lust took on North Korea LANG before the holy neoCONs appeared as brown stains on the rims of our toilets. Click on the pix to advanve thru the comix.

The Katzenjammer Kids, turned 110 years old Dec 12, 2007. Created by Rudolph Dirks and appearing in William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal on December 12, 1897, the strip was among the very first. It also established the language and format of the comic strip and, therefore, the comic book.

Dirks left Hearst to work for Joe Pulitzer and his New York World, taking his characters with him. Hearst sued. Hearst owned the name "The Katzenjammer Kids."

I see that I have taken some things too seriously. I notice, now, that it really does not carry the point, "This is worth more attention than a shallow notice would be." If it may be "useful" towards towards dramatic impetus, but if one is not acting on stage, then maybe dramatic impetus is less than it's cracked up to be.

What I want to know is when we're going to have the Choprah Venom Collection Institute with support from Stephen Irwin Foundation for Wild Sting Ray:Z!

Yet another fucking PCOM graduate who should just fucking go back to Bangalore and help the Indian Tech Support Industry provide better care for Dell.

Either that or just GO FUCK YOURSELF AND THE ELEPHANT YOU RODE ON INTO THIS COUNTRY and after that GO HELP THAT FUCKER shaymalanicalistical he ain't done a good movie since fucking I SEE DEAD PEOPLE and the goddam venus plant should eat his ass for the way he mangled THE HAPPENING.

It's called a ONE SHOT wonder, may you remain in your VILLAGE for the remaining of this Milennium.

Now that you have successfully co-opted Zen from this generation are you actually going to do anything about it?Endless self-promotion, I mean come on now... Let's fucking do something interesting and expressive, let's be Zen in the face of the NWO. Let's fucking move into a totally in way of thinking...

"And what is stress? Birth is stressful, aging is stressful, death is stressful; sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair are stressful; not getting what one wants is stressful.2 In short, the five clinging-aggregates are stressful. This is called stress.

"What is the origination of stress? The craving that makes for further becoming — accompanied by passion & delight, relishing now here & now there — i.e., craving for sensuality, craving for becoming, craving for non-becoming. This is called the origination of stress.

"And what is the cessation of stress? The remainderless fading & cessation, renunciation, relinquishment, release, & letting go of that very craving. This is called the cessation of stress.

"And what is the way of practice leading to the cessation of stress? Just this very noble eightfold path: right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This is called the way of practice leading to the cessation of stress.

"One day when the Jedi knights get their stuff more together maybe they'll have retreat centers and all the rest too."

"The family name of Skywalker is highly religious – shamanic: a walker of the sky. It links perfectly with the Jedi – an order of warrior knights, apparently based on the Knights Templar, in which both father Anakin and son Luke are being trained." source

"Profound. It's two o'clock, Pilade's about to close, and we still haven't gotten to the lunatics."

"I'm getting there. A lunatic is easily recognized. He is a moron who doesn't know the ropes. The moron proves his thesis; he has a logic, however twisted it may be. The lunatic, on the other hand, doesn't concern himself at all with logic; he works by short circuits. For him, everything proves everything else. The lunatic is all idee fixe, and whatever he comes across confirms his lunacy. You can tell him by the liberties he takes with common sense, his flashes of inspiration, and by the fact that sooner or later he brings up the Templars."

My humble contribution to Balbo's taxonomy: some lunatics are at least willing to admit it; others willingly believe in their own crap. (And are doomed to forever post poseur comments on other people's blogs.)

Bardan, one of these days Newhouse is going to figure this out and go looking at how much of his resources you're using on all this.

Our address is all over your domain info, and you really need to be careful about this racist kung fu master stuff you're posting!!!!! Do you really think the school's going to back you up when somebody calls you out on it???

Timothy Leary felt that everone should try LSD at least once, but I don't agree with that because some people need to approach the truth slowly and deliberately like Z0tl the Micheal Bardan and his alias.

I asked the Senior Dharma student about the robes and kasas and stuff - because it seems silly to me. He did not disagree - said it promoted together action. While I still go, sit, talk to the Zen Master, I do not participate in the rituals.

"Timothy Leary felt that everone should try LSD at least once, but I don't agree with that"

Me neither. Give it a real chance...should try it at least a dozen times. Look at poor brad, he tried it like 5 times and thinks he's an expert, drugs are bad, fry your brain, blah blah blah. It's like sitting zazen 5 times and proclaiming you understand all this zen stuff and dismiss it as b.s.

Yeah, once upon a time lsd and zen were bed partners. Acid is what originally led a bunch of us to practice zen back when brad was a pre-schooler. As acid became more scarce in the u.s. and what little was available became weaker, interest in zen began to subside as well. Now everyone's into Jesus instead.

so basically whatchu guys are saying is brad warner over here is forever unemployable in a serious job, because if you are a true zen practitioner (ie, never afraid of speaking instinctively, without concern of political corectness and other bullshit) then there's no way you can hold a real job other than shaved head in a monk begging for food?

you petty little socal assholes. what do my opinions on the internet have to do with my employer and/or my job performance?

ps: i'm a member of a union. just for that reason, that assholes like you exist. at least if you say shit like this, PUT YOUR REAL NAME DOWN YOU SLIMEBALL.

back me up? you bloody fool, if i'm ever forced to leave state i'll get a job making twice the money overnight.

yes, i'm THAT good, asshole & the reason i'm at state is so that young fucks like you can look up to someone.

otherwise it's all fool of cubicles with people who have dilbert drawings talking about "i need to check my brains at the door b4 i come into work."

anyway, i'm disappointed to no end that wanna-be zen folks, with STRAIGHT SPINE can come up with this type of low ballin'.

this thing we're trying to solve here, this Great Matter, has to do with life and death.

if you think somehow that you can do this while worrying about losing a job, then just hang up the hat (errr, robe) right now and call it quits and go build a bhodi at the local 24hrs fitness center or practice some yoga calistenix with a nice relaxing mantra.

THIS IS ZEN and the one i practice is RINZAI which calls for even MORE SHOOTING FROM THE HIP, SPLIT THE ARROW WITH ANOTHER ONE.

i give a shit about a job, man, any job, even if it were the president of like a country liek.

i am who i am and i know who i am, so fuck off, don't ever try to talk to me about a job and when i post and how.

just copy and paste (and out of context too please) and forward to newhouse or HR or wherever and see how far YOUR BLOODY KARMA carries you, fucking spineless fool:z!

the guy to my right has a black belt with 8 dans in something, the guy to my left is a marine and as you can see in my profile, i have a dog tag too, whatchu gonna do rah-rah chuhuahua, give me a blue eye?

i am sick and tired of dealing with you little hormonal fucks.

GROW UP or get the hell out of zen and do something else for a while, this isn't a fucking sport.

there'll be a Pacific and an Atlantic UNITED under ONE TRUMP, before we fuck around wessssigh v eassssigh again!

there's G8 and pink floyd won't come to the States, because a monkey is trampling up and down our throat:z and you think i give a shit about your Imperial Valley, Man?

there will be an imperial trench is what's left here if indeed you weren't so stupid to sell your house at 80% discount, just because these motherfuckers are telling you on TV that the economy is collapsing.

NOTHING COLLAPSES, YOU FUCK!

it's the normal cycle down, throttle launch preparation going on before the election.

The States have never been healthier and better prepared to take the ooomph out of the EU/Japan conglomerate of import cars, but you fucker instead of buying a CHRYSLER SEBRING which is now the SAME QUALITY CAR as a M-BENZ and why, because I-a-COCK-a up their throats stole all their technology while the gnat:z thot up to buy US, what do you do, again?

You sell your House back to DeutscheBank (and that includes T-Mobile which is Deutsche Telekom) for NOTHING.

1-California...knows how to partyCalifornia...knows how to partyIn the citaaay of L.A.In the citaaay of good ol' WattsIn the citaaay, the city of ComptonWe keep it rockin! We keep it rockin!

Verse One: Dr. Dre

Now let me welcome everybody to the wild, wild westA state that's untouchable like Elliot NessThe track hits ya eardrum like a slug to ya chestPack a vest for your Jimmy in the city of sexWe in that sunshine state with a bomb ass hemp beatthe state where ya never find a dance floor emptyAnd pimps be on a mission for them greenslean mean money-makin-machines servin fiendsI been in the game for ten years makin rap tunesever since honeys was wearin sassoonNow it's '95 and they clock me and watch meDiamonds shinin lookin like I robbed LiberaceIt's all good, from Diego to tha BayYour city is tha bomb if your city makin payThrow up a finger if ya feel the same wayDre puttin it down forCaliforn-i-a(repeat 1)

2-Shake it shake it babyShake it shake it babyShake it shake it mamaShake it CaliShake it shake it babyShake it shake it shake it shake it...

Verse Two: 2Pac

Out on bail fresh out of jail, California dreaminSoon as I step on the scene, I'm hearin hoochies screaminFiendin for money and alcohol, the life of a Westside playerwhere cowards die, and the strong ballOnly in Cali where we riot not rally to live and dieIn L.A. we wearin Chucks not Ballies (yeah, that's right)Dressed in Locs and khaki suits and ride is what we doFlossin but have caution we collide with other crewsFamous because we throw grandsWorldwide let 'em recognize from Long Beach to RosecranzBumpin and grindin like a slow jam, it's Westsideso you know the Row won't bow down to no manSay what you say, but give me that bomb beat from DreLet me serenade the streets of L.A.From Oakland to Sac-town, the Bay Area and back downCali is where they put they mack down, give me love!(rpt 1)

(dre) now make it shake...

(rpt 2)

Outro: Dre, 2Pac

uh, yeah, uh, longbeach in tha house, uh yeahOaktown, Oakland definately in tha house hahahaFrisko, Frisko(Tupac) hey, you know LA is up in thisPasadina, where you atyeah, Ingelwood, Ingelwood always up to no good(Tupac) even Hollywood tryin to get a piece babySacramento, sacramento where ya at? yeah

Throw it up y'all, throw it up, Throw it upLet's show these fools how we do this on that west sideCause you and I know it's tha best side

you know what i think, danny-ji, that those people who point out the dickness of others, like you did when you screamed at tim da'ath for daring to analyze the 3 weeknesses of the human species from a place where he just could no longer identify with the race, i think that has NO PLACE in the mind of someone who practices any kind of sport.

for as long as you give a shit what that stupid fuck gudo nishijima is telling you and you can't open 2 goddam eyes of your own and LOOK, you are a stupid dead fish in japan's radioaktive water:z!

you know what i think, danny-ji, that those people who point out the dickness of others, like you did when you screamed at tim da'ath for daring to analyze the 3 weeknesses of the human species from a place where he just could no longer identify with the race, i think that has NO PLACE in the mind of someone who practices any kind of sport.

for as long as you give a shit what that stupid fuck gudo nishijima is telling you and you can't open 2 goddam eyes of your own and LOOK, you are a stupid dead fish in japan's radioaktive water:z!"

I think you may have me confused with someone else. theres more than one dan posting on this blog. Who's Tim d'aath anyway?

why is gudo nishijima a stupid fuck?if you disagree that zazen is similar to a sport what would you classify it as?

why is gudo nishijima a stupid fuck?if you disagree that zazen is similar to a sport what would you classify it as?

To go back to the original post, I didnt know that the 'jedis' actually had a proper church type set up. I wonder if they have meetings anywhere in london. Does anyone know?

I'm writing an article about cults for a magazine and I'm planning to spend some time hanging out with some cults. the weirder the better. can anyone reccommend any cults that they have experienced in one way or another that have branches in the london area?

when i say gudo is a stupid fuck it is no different than when i say michael bardan is a racist pig who needs to get lynched for what he writes here.

/w0rk practice

some1 please go back and find jod (tim) da'ath comment on the 3 weaknesses of the human species.

THAT is our RIDDLE for this virtual sesshin i am trying to run here.

& do i believe i am helping any1?

of course there was ONE commenter who said fuck you bradster sensei, i don't see value in a zendo to be run by you, i sit at home.

i happen to sit at home too.

thus i speak to the one who sits at home and is disgusted with the low/shallow quality of zen practice.

i am not out to insult you (because i cannot do that) unless you insult yourself.

again i say: sticks and stones can break my bones, but w0rds can only hurt me if i let them.

if you are serious about zazen, you cannot possibly put any weight whatsoever on w0rds.

however, you can put a lot of weight on the action behind w0rds.

sort of like: my integrity speaks for itself.

however here in blog world we want to speak to more than just you and because we aren't as skilled as the buddha who could speak one sentence and teach on 3 levels (for f-student, for c-student, for a-student), we must approximate and often we fail miserably.

thus forgive me, for i know not what i say most of the time, still if you murder me for saying it, that won't do jackshit to me (paradoxically), but it will saddle you with a shitload of hellish karma.

You are illegal. You’re the scene of a crime called intelligence, called awareness, called humanity. It’s called all sorts of things, but I assure you it is illegal and there are some very powerful people who would rather you not be doing any of it.

Your entire life is not a coincidence. It is the scene of a crime. That crime is YOU WAKING UP. How did it happen?

You must investigate yourself.

One meditation exercise I described to a friend was to imagine you were not from here. That you had been sent here on a mission you couldn’t recall and that every single tiny thing you did had an effect on the outcome of that mission. As a matter of fact, your memories are more propaganda and imagination than relevant to tracing your path, so we must for the sake of this exercise proceed deeply into the Now, whether through normal breathing exercises, following our heart into the warmth of our lifeforce or other mindfulness techniques.

Once you are in the Now, and prepared to discount any thought-waves that might be memory oriented, you can begin our self-investigation. You can start from right where you are and as soon as you’ve finished reading. The person who has been living this life is no longer you, but henceforth referred to as ‘the Suspect’.

Look at the things around you. Who is this person, this Suspect, you’ve just arrived into? Are there immediate things about the Suspect’s body that you notice, small habitual movements or marks that indicate that some form of past may be relevant to the present situation. Don’t go to the place the marks or habits came from and create a story about it. You must bring them into the present moment with you and keep them here with you rather than let your mind trail off into its cause-and-effect storytelling.

There are clues in the books lying around, even the ones the Suspect has bought but hasn’t read. There are clues in the decorations of the house, or the place the Suspect works, in the clothes being worn. Do not move anything from the crime scene at this point and take notes if you absolutely must (be careful, the Suspect may occasionally return during this exercise and you will have to hide what you’ve been doing).

You are looking for traces of a life that has been going on without your express attention. It is not YOUR life, remember, it is a crime scene that you have just now arrived into. You have no obligations to its past or its future, only to the ’smoking gun’.

What is the crime? What is this person up to? What can you deduce about their motives and agenda. Remember that no matter how much you feel that you may in fact BE this person you’re investigating, you have no proof of that. For the sake of argument, and for this exercise, the notion that you ARE in fact the person you are investigating is sheer psychotic delusion. Memory is propaganda and misinformation ONLY. Remain detached and clinical and present.

Notice the assumptions you make about this person based on what you find and notice when you make your judgements. Remember that you need to gather evidence and build a case: innocent until proven guilty.

Can you find, in the environment, at the scene of the crime, any indications of the material that may have led this person to do the forbidden, insane act of actually attempting to awaken? It is bold defiance to attempt to break conditioning and thus waste hundreds of millions of dollars that has been spent in order to assure that similar people do not wake up, do not question, do not think deeply about life? Find the clues.

Perhaps most of all there are clues in the relationships the Suspect is engaged in. You are permitted to disguise yourself as the Suspect: you have a magical advantage right now in that you currently look the same (though others may be keen and notice you are behaving oddly, so beware… that is, be aware.) See what you can find out about who this criminal has been talking to recently. You will find various sorts of Influences, it is recommended that you examine how these people impact you with their presence. Which ones have been dutifully dragging ‘you’ down, numbing ‘your’ consciousness and doing what they can to be poisonous?

Especially, watch out for people who are offering new doors or ‘gateways’ to further thought-crime. You will recognize these people because they offer exciting possibilities into the unknown and are often fairly chaotic Influences in the life of the Suspect. They may have recently provided the Suspect with grandiose shifts in self-definition and identity. They may have freed energy up for the Suspect so that they have more time and resources to pursue freedom.

Such Influences may suggest that the Suspect begins to act pragmatically. They may encourage the Suspect to explore new thought, engage in physical activities, eat healthy and may in extreme cases enable the Suspect to think critically and solve problems creatively.

Make note of what these Influences introduce into the Suspect’s lives because this evidence is vital to our understanding of the methods in which terrorist grassroots organizations are attempting to level the playing field. Any awareness increasing evidence should be collected and removed from the Suspect’s environment.

Bardan, I know Jessica Rentto well enough to know that she'll have some questions for Newhouse, especially in light of your recent posts.

I also know for a fact that Valerie Carter's getting a lot of questions about network security given what's going on in SF. You might want to get your personal stuff off the network and update that GoDaddy info.

Lastly, if you're really in CSUEU, then you should already know that your local won't waste its time or our dues defending you for posting racist comments at work. Go talk to Flahan and Young before you make promises on their behalf.

Call it karma, or sticks and stones or buttons or whatever, but take your own advice and consider about the consequences of your actions.

Looking back, I can see that I was pretty much a complete asshole. Sometimes I think I didn't know what was going on at all. I had deep flaws which made me deeply inconsiderate of others. It wasn't my intention, that I know, but I was unwilling and unable to see my flaws too.

we can set it alight and BBQ road kill & roots after the Bush Economy is finished with us.

does anybody "own" anything?

at best we are temporary custodians of the land we 'believe' we own. the land is the legacy our children's children will 'believe' they inherited from us. if we leave it much worse for wear and abuse this resource with chemical poisons then it is only our children's children we are poisoning.

Whenever I feel anger for more than a few moments, I know I'm heading into the dream which contains everthing except Reality. I say to myself 'feel the anger, let it go' or some such self talk and then back to the present of don't know.

This blog is a place where people feel safe expressing their ideas, feelings and emotions. People who have personally identified themselves should not be threatened. The anonymice can threaten each other if they choose.

What happened here? Can't we discuss the post and how we do these things in our own lives?

If you resort to name calling on a blog - what is the meaning of your life? Attachment to your perceptions and ideas? Hold on to them as long as you can! Identify with them to the end! Then where do they go?

Do you feel pride when you swear or write mean stuff on the internet? We all need something to make us feel better about ourselves.

My experience is years of zazen and I don't need something like being rude on a blog comments section to make me feel better.

kindergarten teachers need to make MORE MONEY, than elementary school, then on and on, and COLLEGE PROFESSORS NEED TO MAKE THE LEAST.

and why?

because we need physicists with HEART FOR KIDS to explain how we arrogantly think it all works to minds not yet brainwashed by our antiquated education systems, if we're to be saved from the tyranny of medical science that is turning our young into zombies, literally.

just because you can't keep up with your kids or you think they have a foul vocabulary, doesn't mean you can medicate them into silence.

for as long as this country still has a 1st amendment, FUCK YOU YOU COCKSUCKING SPINELESS SLIMEBALL OF A WHISTLEBLOWER.

YOU WHISTLEBLOW ON ME YOU CUNT?

WHISTLEBLOW ON THOSE WHO WASTE YOUR GOVERNMENT TAX DOLLARS BECAUSE I AM HERE TO MAKE SURE YOUR KIDS REGISTER IN TIME FOR THE FALL AND WITH THE LEAST AMOUNT OF WASTED DOLLARS INVESTED IN SOFTWARE PURCHASED TO STRIKE THE EGO OF IT MANAGER:Z!

when i say college profs need to make the least, i say the least a college professor makes should be DOUBLE that which a FUCKING DOCTOR YOUR COCKSUCKING WHITE COATS AND HYPOCRITICAL BASTARDS WITH GOD COMPLEXES UP YOUR MERCEDESES AND LAMBORGHINIS.

go to fucking r0mania bitch where a top notch heart surgeon makes less than $500 a month.

and here, some WHITE COATS WITH DICKS THE SIZE OF EMPIRE STATE are toating their DSM V at me?

BRING IT ON BITCH BRING IT ON YOU TOOK IT ALL AWAY FROM ME ONCE, WHAT'S ONCE MORE OR TWICE?

I taught classes in college and I didn't have an M.D., D.M.D., D.V.M., or J.D.

Yet my doctor, dentist, vet, and family attorney clearly were earning their salary (all self-employed, by the way) caring for me, the wife, the pets and the community. I am not saying that we, who bellied up to the academic feeding trough, were not earning our salary, it is just that we got health benefits, retirement benefits, and summers off - while the M.D., D.M.D., D.V.M., and J.D. did not.

Being in a union and receiving full benefits from the state takes a BIG edge off the anxiety factor.

anyway, i don't even know why i bother, i don't really give a shit, one way or another, lost in thought and lost in time like floyd or eternally lost in emptiness (which is same as lost in time, because form is space, neh?-)

so, really, bow down mofo, here on this earth the battle has been won.

EINSTEIN = GOD

as for me, i'm like ozzy osbourne, i'm just happy to be anywhere, including death row if you please.

"What I want to know is when we're going to have the Choprah Venom Collection Institute with support from Stephen Irwin Foundation for Wild Sting Ray:Z!

Yet another fucking PCOM graduate who should just fucking go back to Bangalore and help the Indian Tech Support Industry provide better care for Dell.

Michael Bardan said "Either that or just GO FUCK YOURSELF AND THE ELEPHANT YOU RODE ON INTO THIS COUNTRY and after that GO HELP THAT FUCKER shaymalanicalistical he ain't done a good movie since fucking I SEE DEAD PEOPLE and the goddam venus plant should eat his ass for the way he mangled THE HAPPENING.

It's called a ONE SHOT wonder, may you remain in your VILLAGE for the remaining of this Milennium."

As to Ven. Brad Warner, mentioned here several times (and I have received a couple of PM over the last couple of days about him), well, I am just going to reprint here some parts of something I wrote awhile back. I don't try to hide this. ... I hope he and I can disagree while maintaining kindness and "Right Speech" about some criticisms I have of his way of doing things, namely, his interpretation of "Right Speech" ... :wink:

I would like to say that I have long been one of Brad's strongest defenders, and I still am. I know that may sound strange, but it is true. (Brad also, I am sure, would not care or want anyone to defend him ... but I get asked about Brad so often that I defend him, plus I truly mean what I say in his defense). In fact, I wrote the following just the other day to some other Buddhist clergy who are very critical of Brad. It also hints at why I feel I must criticize him so strongly about some things.

Over the last few years, I have grown more and more critical within the Sangha of some of his activities. In fact, I even went so far as to ask my teacher to declare my own Treeleaf Sangha as independent, because I was not happy with the situation (Nishijima Roshi granted me that last year). Brad and I have butted horns a few times. But, in order to explain that, I would actually like to defend him here a bit ...

-- Brad was always first and foremost, I think, in the mold of those fiery, wrathful Tibetan Dieties who turned their power against ignorance. He is as serious a Zazen teacher as you will encounter, and rarely if ever has turned his words or actions against people (he has been a critic of some other Buddhist teachers, and in the strongest terms ... but almost always for doctrinal reasons.). If you look closely at his fire, it is almost always directed at what he considers to be the fake, hypocritical, deceiving or harmful in the Buddhist world or in society, and his wrath is emitted in the cause of hard Zen practice. If you ever met him, he is gentle, soft spoken and kind ... very unlike his written persona. If you look at his writings very closely, he is using vitriol and ugly language against falsity and ignorance, not against people. (His most recent article was in no way in support of the lifestyle he described, if you read it closely).

-- As was noted by someone (I cannot find the quote right now), he speaks to a generation that is completely different from the generation of 'old codgers' and ex-hippies that are most current Zen teachers. I can see in my own Sangha that I have trouble relating to many folks in their 20's (and younger) or early 30's, and Brad succeeds. His first book attracted hundreds and hundreds of people to Soto practice who never would have started and so many of those folks have stuck with it and gone deeper (I have a bunch in my Sangha, and others probably do too). One of his recent projects has been to write for an online magazine aimed at the folks with the body piercings and tattoos ... Brad makes a darn good argument that folks like that need to hear about Buddhism, that Brad is one of the few teachers equipped to talk to people like that, that in order to do so he needs to speak their language. If you look closely at his writings, he is not approving the lifestyle (certainly, he is 100% anti drink and drugs), and is preaching Buddhism to folks it is hard to preach to. If you want to talk to folks, you have to go where they hang out.

That being said, I have been a strong critic of Brad very often. I think he sometimes forgets his real intent and falls into shock for shock's sake. I thinks he often overdoes it and comes across as petty and mean. In fact, this week, I publicly let loose on him with both barrels ... certainly I myself forgot "Right Speech" in the process, something I regret. I described the way he runs his website as resembling the "Jerry Springer" TV show or a circus... shock shock shock and dirty words wrapped in a fishwrap pseudo moral talk (at least, it comes across that way even if he is sincere). I am disgusted because I feel he has overstepped a line several times in recent years. The teaching has sometimes become secondary to his need to get the "F-word" in somewhere in his essays. Whatever his intent, it does not come across well.

Even if not one's real intent, it is just not proper to be spreading a message that it is okay to be a cursing and insulting, angry against people (even if he just comes across that way and is not like that inside) Buddhist. You cannot be an "insulting and angry against people Buddhist." Sorry. It is like being a doctor who advocates cigarette smoking, a peace activist who shoots anyone who disagrees with him. It does not compute.

On the Precepts, I agree with Rev. Nonin. and Anders. I could not have said it any other way myself. I do not manage my own Sangha in any other way, and we treat each other with kindness and dignity. The Buddhist concept of right speech is not just an "old tradition", but a darn good teaching. We take the Precepts as being at the heart of our Practice, hand in hand with Zazen. Right speech is the first principle of ethical conduct in the eightfold path. Ethical conduct is viewed as a guideline ... which supports the other principles of the path. This aspect is not self-sufficient, however essential, because mental purification can only be achieved through the cultivation of ethical conduct. The importance of speech in the context of Buddhist ethics is obvious: words can break or save lives, make enemies or friends, start war or create peace. Buddha explained right speech as follows: ... not to use words maliciously against others,. to abstain from harsh words that offend or hurt others. ... , Positively phrased, this means to tell the truth, to speak friendly, warm, and gently and to talk only when necessary.

Fortunately, with me and Brad ... it is quite unlikely that we will mount armies against each other. :|

"I am going to go public, with every resource I have privately and on the internet to make you a laughingstock, to tell folks what I think of you, to embarrass you. I will speak out (you can fool others but you can't fool me ... you embarrassment to yourself, our teacher, all of us associated with this). It's not "edgeplay, man ... it's a 12 year old who giggles at the graffiti he drew on a bathroom wall. I will do what I can upon my return to Japan next month to stop the September Retreat at Tokei-in.

You are free to to turn your hanging out in nudie bars, getting "lap dance" from strippers into a profound "teaching" (there are fools born every minute who will buy it too. I think you are just a clown). But you are free to do it, and I am free to take the action I think is right.

in my very youth, b4 getting to hakuin by identification of wow slap my forehead this dude went crazy just like i did and so ce n'est pas true i have a shrinking brain, instead they shrink it for me in order to not finish what has begun in me... bah, i bore you, who cares, man?

not i.

i only say braddy-chan proceeds to throw stones in a glass house and so poor him looks ridiculously stupid. he's right in what he says, but he doesn't practice what he says, because he doesn't yet understand what he says.

anyway, i give a shit what you pinheads think of my views on life, the universe, and everything, which incidentally aren't 42, rather 58 (for now).

Hi rich and dan.. I and my are not mistakes. They are words that signify ideas. The idea of I or my are not mistakes either. When you believe that words are the ideas and visa-versa, (like when Rich said, 'I and my are mistakes') he was confusing his words with his ideas.

You have to become accustomed to z0tl-speak to make any sense out of him. Text messages are different than spoken messages. more and less room for misunderstanding.

Jim said:"Hi rich and dan.. I and my are not mistakes. They are words that signify ideas. The idea of I or my are not mistakes either. When you believe that words are the ideas and visa-versa, (like when Rich said, 'I and my are mistakes') he was confusing his words with his ideas. "

If you are completely free of attachment to your conceptual thinking, then your words and thinking are wonderful. In any case don't get rid of words and thinking, you need them in your everyday life.

If you are thinking 'I understand this or that', I want this or that' you are already lost, have made a big mistake and need to get back to your practice.

Babelfish says:What is meant? As for this [burogu] " which becomes sometime; It is Japanese to be pleasant? " It is dense, " which [bu] is and becomes; It does and day does or said… [ro] easy [gu] it is, the book as for with language!!!

Was hoping for some gossip or something else nasty or something.Shall we try Dutch: Meer onzin or back to the originalより多くのナンセンス

Now that I've trashed the precept on right speech (sorry, Jundo!) let me atone by posting something more positive. If you're looking for a good book to read, I recommend Instant Zen. Some of those Chinese monks were pretty sharp guys. And on the whole, I find the Chinese masters easier to understand than the Japanese. There's a lot of good stuff here and I've turned to it often for inspiration.

"I recommend Instant Zen. Some of those Chinese monks were pretty sharp guys. And on the whole, I find the Chinese masters easier to understand than the Japanese. There's a lot of good stuff here and I've turned to it often for inspiration."

Great book. I've read and reread it for years. I agree about the chinese masters. I'd also recommend Master Yunmen by Urs App and Swampland Flowers by Ta Hui. Master Dogen really disliked Ta Hui but I've found him to be especially insightful.

what i am "moved" by is mysterion's efforts to keep me out of ignorance.

*yaza*

(the bell and i are both in your head:z)

it is incredibly funny when imbeciles sitted on a cushion tell you that you're being moved and all in your head, even funnier when they can tell you how hysterical you are by 1 of the 8071823408761 winds to the power of THEIR ignorance, projected on a lower form.

dear "history makers" we here are sadly stuck on teisho point #2:

STOP VALIDATING AGAINST LOWER AND HIGHER FORM:Z!

PLEASE, I BEG YOU, so we can move to #1 and #3 finally.

anyone care to fish jod (tim) da'ath history making teisho and give history teisho on it?

A total eclipse of the sun Friday should fascinate millions of lucky skywatchers in Greenland, Siberia, Mongolia and China.ADVERTISEMENT

If the weather cooperates, people along a narrow path who venture out and look up will see stars during the day as the sun is gradually devoured and ultimately blotted out by the moon.

Unlike ancient times, when eclipses were viewed as bad omens in many cultures, fewer people should be expecting doom this time around. Still, myths persist, especially in remote regions, so it's likely there will be some banging on pots and other creative tactics employed to drive the "evil spirits" away.

Billions of people along the path, including most of Europe and Asia, have a chance to see an interesting but much less foreboding partial eclipse. The northern half of Maine and the Canadian Maritime Provinces will be graced with a partial eclipse at sunrise.

Myth and mystery

Solar eclipses occur when the moon moves in front of the sun. This can happen only at the time of a new moon, when the moon is between Earth and the sun. When the three objects align perfectly an eclipse occurs.

Before there was a scientific explanation for eclipses, myth and mystery was pervasive.

Many cultures thought a demon or dragon was devouring the sun.

In ancient China, "any unusual phenomenon involving celestial bodies was noted for potential omens, either good or bad, that might befall the current Emperor," according to Sten Odenwald of the department of physics at Catholic University. An eclipse occurred in 2134 B.C., but was not predicted by Hsi and Ho, who were believed to have been two astrologers who served the Emperor Chung K'ang.

"By some accounts, the two astrologers were negligent in their duties and did not foretell the event for the Emperor," Odenwald writes in a historical article published by NASA. "They were summarily beheaded for their negligence of duty."

The ancient Chinese banged pots and drums to shoo the frightful sun-eating character away, according to the Exploratorium Science Center in San Francisco. In India, people would immerse themselves in water to help the sun fight the dragon.

Even nowadays many myths persist. In Egypt, as one example, children are often kept indoors with windows covered or shades drawn during an eclipse.

Prior to a total solar eclipse in 2006, one Indian paper advised pregnant women not to go outside during the eclipse to avoid having a blind baby or one with a cleft lip. Food cooked before the eclipse was to be thrown out afterward because it would be impure and those who are holding a knife or ax during the eclipse would cut themselves, the Hindustan Times added.

In Togo, authorities prior to the 2006 solar eclipse called on villagers to stay home. "Please, do not go out and keep your children indoors on solar eclipse day,'' Togo's minister for health said in a message broadcast on state television.

Risk of eye injury

Eclipses can indeed be dangerous.

Despite myths and rumors, a total solar eclipse is safe to watch during the darkness of totality, when no rays of the sun are passing to your eyes. The corona, or atmosphere of the sun, is often partly visible when the moon blocks out the main disk of the sun. Viewing the corona during totality also is safe.

However, looking directly at the sun, even during a partial eclipse, will damage your eyes unless you wear proper eye protection. It is extremely dangerous to eyesight to look directly at an eclipse at any stage expect during totality.

Glasses designed specifically for eclipse viewing are recommended, or a handful of indirect viewing methods can be used:

With masking tape, cover all but a 1/2-inch square of a small mirror. Project the sun onto a shaded wall. Or with a pencil, poke a small hole in a piece of paper. Let sunlight fall trough the hole onto a second sheet of white paper about a foot below.

Webcast planned

For those not fortunate enough to be in the eclipse's narrow path, a live webcast is planned.

NASA, in partnership with the Exploratorium and the University of California, Berkeley, will transmit live images on NASA TV. The coverage, originating in China and reliant on good weather, runs from 6 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. ET.

The period of total eclipse, or totality, will occur from 7:08 a.m. to 7:10 a.m. ET.

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For those not fortunate enough to be in the eclipse's narrow path, a live webcast is planned.

NASA, in partnership with the Exploratorium and the University of California, Berkeley, will transmit live images on NASA TV. The coverage, originating in China and reliant on good weather, runs from 6 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. ET.

The period of total eclipse, or totality, will occur from 7:08 a.m. to 7:10 a.m. ET.

"And how is right view the forerunner? One discerns wrong speech as wrong speech, and right speech as right speech. And what is wrong speech? Lying, divisive tale-bearing, abusive speech, & idle chatter. This is wrong speech...

"One tries to abandon wrong speech & to enter into right speech: This is one's right effort. One is mindful to abandon wrong speech & to enter & remain in right speech: This is one's right mindfulness. Thus these three qualities — right view, right effort, & right mindfulness — run & circle around right speech."

"1 thing i can't comprehend is how on exrth you think someone of the new nexus 1st shooter adhd generation can possibly learn a thing from you?"

this is so great michael.. you hit the hammer right on the head with the nail. you are just the opposite side of the same coin as mysterion. different generations and economic classes mixed in with ethnic sub-groups and white-boy wannabes, no one understanding what the other person is talking about. mysterion is vague and vaporous for a reason. he doesn't want to say the wrong thing. you on the other hand, seem like you don't really care about saying something inaccurate but do want to be understood. problem is you talk in a regional dialect that makes communication outside of your own group nearly impossible. how can anyone younger or older than you understand what you are working so hard on trying to say? the new nexus 1st shooter adhd generation? those guys are awesome but make up about .0034% of the world..

michael, Ha! don't collect so many assumptions dickhead and you won't come off as such a know nothing. You spend a lot of time here pushing your ideas. if you are writing for yourself don't click that 'publish comment button'. But you do because I think you love us and just want to help us. how gay is that?

I sometimes really hate the old wacked out Zen master of the "classic" scriptures for that they became role models for psychotic immature internet nerds who rather riddle around with their bland random associations and assume that it would be some Zen teaching.

"I sometimes really hate the old wacked out Zen master of the "classic" scriptures for that they became role models for psychotic immature internet nerds who rather riddle around with their bland random associations and assume that it would be some Zen teaching"

I hate that old whacked out gotama dude cause he became a role model for people that try to follow all his silly teachings about 8 folded paths, precepts and philosophical sutra b.s. instead of just sitting, which is real buddhism.

jinzang, you are a goddam foo & will remain 1 for as long as you've been.

lissn up, if you weren't a fruit fly, you'd KNOW i only descended upon this here sorry sangha when my teacher walked out of sanzen and had me baffled for like 5.8 second:z!

hey, when you're in sanzen with a tiger, you get the fuck out, that's all there is to do. unless you can do the dragon bit and/or shaolin praying mantis drill bit.

it is not my fault you mistake my confidence for arrogance.

it is not my fault you mistake my foul language for verbal abuse.

it is not my fault you are all little cowards invested with some kind of robe power, sitting high up a zafu, you fuck yourself [by the power invested in you] the same way the rest of us do, if not worse, because you teach others how to fuck themselves up professionally.

it is not my fault you ridicule me every day without seeing you ridicule yourself.

it is not my fault you suck your teacher's dick every day without seeing you fuck yourself.

my only fault [and weakness] is not turning my back on anyone, friend or foe.

when tired, sleep, when thirsty, eat [or read, for that matter], when bored, sit.

y'all want to be infinite immortal outlaw:z but fuck me, the minute you need to do something that you aren't deluded you thought of doing, may i please watch colbert report, mommy, can you warm up the pf chang leftovers for me, i need to practice my pilate routine live here on oprah.

dear fucked up dividual, you are IN SUCH DEEP SHIT, you ain't seen nuttin yet until your life TRULY BECOMES A BREEZE, not a care in z-wxrld, everything flowing milk and honey and prozac and speed (aka wellbutrin) and maryjane laced with dmt for some truly "hardcore" trip:z!

My intent was to say "When did this blog become fun with Japanese [language]?"

Someone else said it better though, more nonsense.

I think Mr. Natural is pretty funny. And Brad's crack about the geekiness of the Zen community totally hit home with me. And admittedly I am certainly drawn to shiny things too. But I think the difference is that I feel the shiny things have their place in Buddhism.

I know that goes against the stream of common thought here, but for me if it had not been for the shiny things, I may have never been drawn to practice.

just in case you don't get it, even a sequoia learned to treat your pile of shit like it's pearl:z, even a fruit fly, unlike the chicken launching to get the lugie (booger pile) is smarter/wittier than you, wood pile!

stonewall@noon-ish, but meanwhile here's 1 ounce of *yaza* followed by more nappin' it large.